Improved machine for breaking broom-corn



C. CAMPBELL.

Machihe for Breaking Broom Cbrn. No. 35,214. Patented May' 13, 1862.

WITNESSES UNITED- STATES PATENT OFE ca.

CHARLES'OAMPBELL, OF YELLOW HEAD, ILIilNOIS.

IMPROVED MACHINE FCRBREAKING BROOM-CORN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,2l4, dated May 13,1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES CAMPBELL, of Yellow Head, in the county ofKankakee and State of Illinois, have inventeda new and Improved Machinefor Breaking Broom-Corn; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side sectional view of my in- .vention, taken in the line90 a, Fig. 2 Fig 2, a

plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

This invention relates to a new and improved machine for breakingbroom-corn preparatory to'the harvesting thereof, and is designed tosupersede the manual operation of bending the stalks or stems of thestanding broom-corn to facilitate its drying.

The invention consists in the employment or use of revolving beaters,stationary adjustable break-irons or bars, and a guard-shield for theheaters, arranged as hereinafter fully shown and described.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a rectangular frame, which is provided with thills B B, andmounted on two wheels, 0 C, which. are attached permanently to theiraxle D, the latter being fitted in proper bearings underneath the frameA. The wheels and their axle consequently rotate together, and to theouter side of each wheel 0 there is attached concentrically a bevelguard, E. These gears mesh into pinionsF F, which are placed on. thelower parts of vertical shafts G G, which are placed one at each side ofthe frame A.

On the upper end of each shaft G there are secured at right anglesboaters H, two or more, i as desired, at equal distances apart In Fig. 2four heaters are shown attached to each shaft. These boaters workdirectly over the frame A, and parallel with it, and of course extend orwork out from the frame at each side a distance equal to their length,as their shafts G are at the sides of the frame.

To each side of the frame A, at its upper part, there is attached a bar,I. These bars I may be of metal, and they are attached at their frontends to the frame A by pivots a, and at points near their centers theyare pivoted to slides J, which are attached to the upper surface of theframe A by set-screws b, which pass through oblong slots 0 in the slidesJ. By means of this connection of the slides J to the frame A the bars Imay be adjusted parallelwith the sides of the frame A, or more or lessangnlarly with it, as may be desired. This will be fullyunderstood byreferring to Fig. 2. The bars I are directly under the heaters H, asshown clearly in Fig. 1.

K is a guard or shield, which is formed of metal rods (1, secured attheir ends to a bow shaped frame, 0, the inner part of which is curvedin a vertical plane in the form of an arc. The other part of this frameis curved in the form of an arc in ahorizontal plane, as shown clearlyin Fig. 2. The rods (1 are secured longitudinally with the frame A inthe frame 6 and paralled with each other. The inner part of the frame ais fitted on the upper ends of the shafts G G, while the outer part issecured by a bolt, f, to the outer ends or junction of two oblique bars,9 g, attached to the back part of frame A. In consequence of the innerend of the frame 0 being curved in a vertical plane, the rods (Z have aninclined position and are curved, so that the guard or shield may bedescribed as forming a longitudinal section of a prolate spheroid. Theguard or shield is directly between the bars I I, and the beatersHbehind the shafts G G, as shown in Fig. 2.

L is the drivers seat, which is secured to the front part of the frameA.

The operation is as follows: As the machine is drawn along, thedraft-animal being be tween the rows of broom-corn, the heaters H arerotated in the direction indicated by the arrows 1 through the medium ofthe gearing E F, and the broom-corn is broken between the heaters andthe bars I, the latter serving as a stay or rest for the standing stemsor stalks while the boaters act upon them. The

heaters work or rotate underneath the guard or shield K, and the latterprevents the stems or stalks becoming entangled with or wrappingthemselves around the beaters. Two rows of broom-corn, it will be seen,are acted upon simultaneously, one now at each side of the machine.\Vhen it is desired to have the bars I parallel with the sides of theframe A,

I or they can be readilyso adjusted, and also read ily adjustedobliquely with it when it is necessary to have the beatersH strike thestems or stalks of broom-corn obliquely.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The revolving beaters H and stationary bars or break-irons I, placedon a mounted frame, A, and arranged to operate as and for y the purposeherein shown and described.

2. The combination of the revolving heaters H, bars or break-irons I,and guard or shield K, all arranged or placed on a mounted frame, A, forjoint operation, as and for the purpose herein set forth.

CHARLES CAMPBELL.

Witnesses:

ROYAL LUTTER, DANFORTH TooMBs.

